.MKV to .AVI Converter to DVD and TV...

May 31, 2009

Hello MG-Techs,

Apparently the Russians have a new video format out and many video files are coming up in this format. You've seen it as ".mkv" (or even RMKV, I think) and it means 'Matroska' - but that is about all I know.
It seems easy to view these files in Windows Media Player 11, and in the DivX player/burner. But the DivX Converter will NOT convert it to .divx and will not successfully burn it to a DVD.
Obviously what I, and maybe many others are interested in, is this: how can such a file be burned to DVD and watched on TV ??

There appears to be $19. to $29. apps out there that claim to convert .mkv to, say, .avi.....which would then burn nicely to a DVD. But I see no freeware, as of yet.

Can anyone help me here, as I notice they are coming out with this file type more and more these days. It seems like it may be a new wave of the future......

Thanks for any info......

-scottportraits :confused

 

Best free option: http://majorgeeks.com/DVD_Flick_d5530.html

Best paid option: http://majorgeeks.com/ConvertXToDVD_d4689.html

ConvertXDVD has a few options like video joining and is a bit faster than DVD Flick but it also has a $50 price tag.

 

mkv is a good format, seems that it's being used for most blue ray/hd videos now. dvd flick will work, but if you do have the blue ray original, the quality of the converted dvd will be slightly less than the original, unless you make it a blue ray dvd or dual layer dvd.

 

AlltoAvi might work for you.

The .mkv container isn't that new (about 4 years old) but it is getting very popular due to HD.

 

Hello MG-tech's,

Well, my experiences with an .mkv file has been exasperating. I installed DVD Flick, and it took over 2 hours and 45 minutes, plus alot of PC resources....machine was churning and groaning the whole time. Apparently, it makes an .iso image which is then converted to a .vob file and burned to the DVD using another app called ImgBurn. It took up 4.09 GB of DVD space and twice that in PC space just to process.
And afterwards, the file was in .vob format, so it would NOT play on my DVD and TV. Darn !! I deleted the original .mkv file and will have to download another .mkv movie to test All-to-AVI.
But I've hit a problem installing "AlltoAVI". I tried to launch it open once installed, but I get this error message:
'RunTime error '372': Failed to load 'Common Dialog' from COMDLG32.ocx - your version of it may be outdated.'
I went to C:/Program Files, where AlltoAVI is installed and looked for this .ocx file, but it was not there. There were two other .ocx files, both ActiveX controls, but none named the one here. So I tried uninstalling and re-installing AlltoAVI, but it is still the same story. :cry
I guess if you have a big screen HD TV then these .mkv videos might be good. But I still have an old TV and run the DVD player through my VCR machine. There is no 'Blue-Ray' or High-Def here, yet, anyway.
So if I could get AlltoAVI to simply convert the .mkv files to .avi format, then I could burn them to DVD and watch on my TV. But 'til then, it is no go. Darn !!
Any advice about this COMDLG32.ocx file and version ??? :confused

Thanks,
-scottportraits

 

Yeesh, sorry that I might have made it more complicated.
That .ocx file should be located in the windows\system32 folder.

You may just need to re-register that file by typing the following in a command prompt from within the folder where comdlg32.ocx is located:
regsvr32 comdlg32.ocx


I'm surprised the .vob did not work unless the other files were not there (.ifo and perhaps .bup). There are usually 2 or 3 different file formats in a DVD's VIDEO_TS folder.

 

DVDFlick works great for converting/creating DVDs. On my PC it would take about an hour from starting file to burned DVD, and they always played just fine on my home DVD player. All DVDs (yes, even the store-bought ones) are in VOB format. DVDFlick uses ImgBurn to burn the ISO, and you can choose to have the ISO erased (and not burned if you want). The reason the end result is so large is to keep the quality as high as possible. Other apps like ConvertX and WinAVI do the same thing (with VOB files as the end result) but the files will be smaller (and the conversion quicker) because the quality will be less. All these things can be adjusted in DVDFlick to decrease encoding time (which decreases quality). For best results, do NOT use the PC at all when running DVDFlick, disable your screen saver, turn off the monitor, and go have a pizza or something. If your DVD player plays DIVX files, you can convert MKV files with Dr.DivX (freeware), but it also is not too fast, but you can select custom file sizes which can decrease encode time (but will decrease quality). The main bummer about converting/transcoding video files is that it is a VERY resource hungry and intensive task and will always slow down the PC big time. And it's slow. A full movie will generally take at least an hour to rip, or encode, or transcode. Here's some other free apps that you might find helpful:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Quick_Media_Converter_d6065.html
http://www.majorgeeks.com/MediaCoder_d4987.html
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Super_d5117.html
http://www.formatoz.com/index.html (I haven't used this one so I'm not 100% if it's MKV compatible, but I've heard good things about it)
http://www.amadis-soft.com/video_converter_suite.htm (not freeware like the others above, but I've been using this one A LOT lately and it's excellent and fairly fast!)

 

Hi,

Well, AlltoAVI just didn't work out for me and neither did a few others I tried. I was beginning to think .mkv is some obscure 'Blue-Ray' deal for rich people who have big high definition TVs. All the apps I installed (and un-installed) just took a lot of time, consumed PC resources, and were tedious and then didn't seem to work.

And then I installed and tried "FormatFactory"....a multi-file-type conversion app that seems pretty simple, and covers a whole range of file types for all occasions. You can find it here:

http://www.formatoz.com/index.html

Thanks for this little gem, which I wish I had found in the first place. It is the RITZ. Download it and have a shortcut on your desktop today ! It's FREEWARE !!

As for that .ocx file, I Googled it and made a copy of the most recent version, and then pasted it into the system32 folder.....it seemed to let AlltoAvi work after that. But since I won't need AlltoAvi, it won't matter unless another app needs it, and there it will be.

Thanks folks, this matter has been resolved and should be closed, unless someone wants to comment on why 'Blue-Ray' didn't get in the door for DVD coding at first, but is now sneaking in through the back door - I guess for High Definition TVs. I don't even know what 'Blue-Ray' is. I think it's like beta-max versus VHS, VHS of course won. The DVDs I am burning here and watching on standard TV are decidedly NOT "Blue-Ray". Not my decision.

'til next time,:wave

scottportraits
Private First Class

 

indeed, blue ray is for higher resolution movies (wikipedia link ) , which result in larger file types (note, not all mkv's are this way, but it seems to be the majority are). Most of the sizes of mkv files i get are at least 1.5gb to almost 5gb. This results in having 5.1 surround audio, and higher resolution video (usually 480p) . It is not actually considered high definition, but "higher" definition than a traditional avi (divx or xvid)
If my memory serves me correct, mkv's came about when there was a shift in licensing for avi's encoded with divx. And out of that came xvid and mkv.

i believe the advantages of mkv's are the not only it's ability to have higher resolution movies (usually ripped from a blue ray disc), but also to have multiple audio streams (stereo, 5.1 and 7.1 surround, and in different languages, usually on different tracks) and also to have subtitles. All of which can be contained in 1 single file, instead of having an individual file for subtitles, and audio.

I too will check out that program, as i am always looking out for new software.

 

:-D Glad I could recommend something that worked out so well for you. Like I said above, I haven't tried Format Factory, but some of friends of mine use it, and just haven't tried it out yet, no real reason why, just lazy.... I'll have to give it go now!!!

[dlb]

 

June 3, 2009

Yes, .mkv is great for the wealthy, and the "newest state-of-the-art"-type folks, with all the latest and greatest in technology and hardware. Since many of the searches for video movies are now coming up with lots of these .mkv file types, it would be wise, if you are blue-collar:major to get "FilterFactory" so you can convert them to standard .avi's, burnable to regular (not 'Blue-Ray') DVDs, and play 'em on your modest TV set - with modest speakers or headphones.

Once again, I liken 'Blue-Ray' versus whatever they call the mainstream coding for those regular DVDs most of us use, to the great video cassette battle in the early 1980s. First there was beta-max, then court cases about copyright infringements and the right to bear video recorders. As I sort of recall, some experts claimed, and still do, that beta-max is BETTER than VHS, VHS of course won the battle and is the way most players and cassettes work in the mainstream.
So 'Blue-ray' is better, but most DVD burners, DVD mediums, and DVD players only accept the other kind of coding, whatever it's called. Recently, however, high-class spenders:drool with big HD screens and fancy-shmancy surround speakers in quad, want the best for their movies, so 'Blue-ray' is making a come-back. Doesn't it require a different type of DVD medium ? Also, a different kind of DVD burner ?? (not to mention the humongous sized and priced screen and sound system - which is the ultimate destination for such 'cutting-edge' technology).
Anyway, thanks again for all the info; much has been cleared up, and if I win to-night's lottery I will know what to feed my new HD TV system, and how to do it. Meantime, with an app like 'FilterFactory' you can convert lots of file types back and forth, and never have to buy a $19. or $29. dollar program (like ConvertXToDVD) to do the one little thing you need. It's freeware, and all under one roof. I do recommend it highly.

And so, 'til next time, I am,:wave

-scottportraits

Private First Class; USMGs

 

fyi, my "high-class" home theater cost under $700 (tv - $500, Surround sound system/dvd combo - $200) , so it's not all that ...but i don't have a blue ray player....yet

yes, blue ray is a different format than regular dvd. You would need a blue ray burner (which is getting to a reasonable price) and blue ray blanks, and also a player to watch them on.

as for your last idea, wouldn't running the converter program, and dvd encoder software take as much time to finish the dvd, as would just running dvd flick (cause that's all that it's doing, encoding to dvd format then burning to a dvd) ? just curious...
keep in mind any kind of video encoding/recoding especially with using mkv as an original will take time. For instance, when I was using a pentium 4 with 1 gb of ram, it would take over 4 hours to create a divx encoded avi to dvd, but now, with an intel core 2 duo, it only takes just under 40 minutes.
good luck

 

I just bought a blue ray burner/player for my new computer, paid $160 for it. Found blue ray disc that would hold 25GB for $20 should come down quick, Blue ray uses a blue laser which has a narrower beam instead of a red laser, last thing I read about a month ago Panasonic has developed a blue ray that will hold 500GB so I don't think it is a fad... it is the new Format will replace DVD....just think a disk that will hoild 500GB hard drives that have now 2TB Ram stick that have 8GB memory.. where is the next stop?? And its only been sixty one years since the computer was first invented.

Steve

 

You may take a look at this step by step guide, it will teach you how to convert and burn MKV video to DVD to play on TV. it works pretty well for me.

 

Yes, I'm familiar with ConvertXtoDVD - which is an expensive app to buy.....trialware though it's good.

I tried 'FormatFactory' here http://www.formatoz.com/index.html and it is the BEST !! Best thing about it, (besides it'll convert almost anything), is that it's FREEWARE - and the best things in life are occasionally free.

In my humble opinion, as a Private 1st Class, 'FormatFactory' is a gem that needs to be on any serious PC-person's desktop. You never know when you'll need it, but it'll always be there.

I think we've about exhausted this topic. Yes ConvertXtoDVD and some others give those Senior Ranking Officers (SRO's) a bit more choice with details and specific intricate things, but for your average dog-face in the trenches of the front-lines 'FormatFactory' is simple, easy to do, takes forever (they all do when converting 700MB to 4 GBs of video material) , and very effective with movies.

So the topic is now closed, and I hope you will all run out and get 'FormatFactory' A.S.A.P.

-scottportraits